Bewitching

Before Jeannie and long before Sabrina or Harry Potter, "Bewitched" flew onto the screen and into the hearts of many. The concept behind the show was not an entirely new one, but it was certainly not something that t.v. viewers got to see on a regular basis. It was a merging of worlds. Samantha was a perfectly normal, everyday person based on outward appearances. She was sensible, caring, and pretty. But she was also something that didn't seem to fit that description: a witch.

"The Wizard of Oz" refers to good witches and bad witches, and Samantha was most certainly a good witch. She came from a world of witches and warlocks and all manner of magical people, and she could make things happen with one little nose wiggle. She was perfectly capable of performing like a mortal, though, much to the relief of her magic-shy husband Darren. Unfortunately, her relatives did not exhibit her self-control.

Most of the major problems which she had to face were caused by one or another of her magical relatives, sometimes well-meaning and sometimes looking to cause trouble. Through it all she kept a clear head and managed to nip fiasco after fiasco in the bud. Her snooping neighbor Gladys Kravvits certainly did not make life easy for Samantha, but every time Gladys saw something and asked her husband to confirm it, whatever had been out of place was back to normal by the time he turned to look.

Like "I Dream of Jeannie," this show is chock full of good old-fashioned comedy, and it's a little bit less chaotic since Samantha is so much more...normal than Jeannie. At any rate, it's fun, and the role which witchcraft plays in it is totally unrealistic so there's no harm in it. It's just a show, so sit back and relax and don't take it too seriously.